The City of West 麻豆精选 has revealed that its share of the community's new municipal building is $6.17 million dollars over budget.
West 麻豆精选's total share of the city hall/library project is $24.17 million, up from an estimated $18 million back in 2021. However, neither the original budget nor the overages have led to a tax hike, as the mayor and council had directed, according to the release.
The Okanagan Regional Library鈥檚 (ORL) portion of the project is $12.41 million, compared to $9 million in 2021 (per ORL鈥檚 update on Oct. 27, 2024). This puts the total cost of the building at $36.58 million.
In a statement sent out late Tuesday afternoon (Mar. 4), Mayor Gord Milsom said the city is now looking to implement improved project management best practices.
"West 麻豆精选 council is extremely disappointed at this news, and these kinds of cost overruns must not continue," he said. "We have this wonderful, much-needed complex, which provides centralized government services and a bustling civic centre area for our community, yet it has been overshadowed by these overruns, and we must implement policies and best practices that will keep future projects on track."
At a council meeting on Dec. 19, some councillors voiced their frustration with former senior staff for what they called poor decisions related to the new city hall. Just two days before that meeting, the council was informed that they needed to spend an additional $115,000 on acoustic upgrades for the council chambers and another $85,000 to design parking lot improvements.
In 2023, the city found itself named in a civil claim alongside Stuart Olsen Construction Ltd. over unpaid invoices during the construction of the building.
Chief Administrative Officer Ron Bowles explained that the city is now focused on improving how it handles future projects.
"Staff will work with council to establish policies and procedures that create controls for future projects," Bowles said, outlining key changes. These will include:
- Using engineering-standard protocols for budgeting, like fixed-price design/build or design/bid/build contracts, along with proper contingency planning;
- Confirming the project scope before starting;
- Employing industry-standard project management practices and qualified professionals;
- Establishing procedures to manage projects during unprecedented situations like high inflation, global supply chain disruptions, and more frequent climate-related emergencies;
- Providing regular updates to council and the public throughout the project.
"I understand that many factors contributed to the overruns, and while we cannot change the past, we will deliver better in the future," Bowles added.
The city's statement blamed multiple factors for the overruns including adding the library and other tenants, supply chain issues during COVID-19, high inflation, the bankruptcy of a mass timber manufacturer, wildfires, and the Highway 97 landslide near Summerland in 2023.
